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Review of “Masquerade”:

We stumbled across "Masquerade" at Mandarake USA.  This photo mook features 12 female cosplayers, in a variety of anime and video game costumes.  All the women all possess a fresh, girl-next-door charm.  We were very surprised to see many toothy smiles on the women, instead of pouts.  The costumes appear to be either hand-made or assembled by the women themselves.  An entertaining book, with unusual "action pose" images of cosplayers.  Mahiro is especially sweet, jumping around as Cham-Cham with a monkey plushie.  There is even a mock battle between Cham-Cham and Nakoruru.  Includes characters from Ah! My Goddess, Macross 7, Magic Knight Rayearth, Battle Arena Toshinden, Samurai Spirits, etc.  We like this book because of the variety of poses and flattering photography.  The women are professionally photographed in both full-length and portrait shots, so the costumes are given proper attention.  Standout cosplayers include the lovely Ren Suzunari as Chacha, Hirone Yuki as darling Mylene Jenius, and Yuna Maki as perky Ellis.  There are interesting Engrish phrases for each cosplayer: "...Tell you the truth, it is more important for me to keep living in your arms".  We highly recommend "Masquerade" for their fresh approach to cosplay photography.

A difficult mook to track down, but worth every penny.